Abu Dhabi’s M42 to roll out genomics program in Botswana

The 10-year contract with the government of Botswana includes a national genomics program and will digitize health records and bolster access to medicines. Abu Dhabi healthcare company M42 signed a 10-year contract with the government of Botswana to roll out a national genomics program, digitize health records, and bolster access to medicines. The deal comes as the G42 and Mubadala-backed firm has sought to expand in the Global South, where it sees “a distinct opportunity for nations to leapfrog legacy systems,” CEO Dimitris Moulavasilis said in a statement seen by Semafor. The partnership with the Botswana Ministry of Health will include a population-level genomic sequencing effort, which can provide a trove of data and help screen for treatable conditions, and aims to improve pharmaceutical and medical supply chains with Mubadala’s life sciences unit Mubadala Bio. A timeline for the genomics project wasn’t given. The deal is among the UAE’s more significant commercial bets on healthcare and M42’s first government-level agreement in Africa, which carries an outsize disease burden relative to its healthcare resources.